Mumbai: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has allotted two vacant MPEG-4 slots for its DD Free Dish DTH platform at the end of the 55th e-auction, held on 23 August.

The successful bids went to the Hindi news and current affairs channels Vertent Samachar Plus 24X7 and FM News. The channels will be available on the free DTH platform starting from 1 September.

The slots were allotted as per policy guidelines for allotment of DD Free Dish slots notified on 15 January 2019 and amended on 30 March 2019, 1 November 2019, and 22 February 2021. 

Only satellite channels licensed by the ministry of information and broadcasting for downlinking in India would be allotted slots on DD Free Dish. The bidding for the MPEG-4 slots was open to all genre (language) channels starting at a reserve price of Rs 65.34 lakh.

The allotment duration lasts from the period 1 September 2021 till 31 March 2022.